Rostelecom intends to merge with NTK
MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - Rostelecom intends to merge with its subsidiary OJSC National Telecommunications (NTK).
NTK's business will be integrated with that of Rostelecom, a source close to the company told Interfax.
Rostelecom's president, Alexander Provotorov, will be in charge of NTK during the reorganization. The Rostelecom board will discuss the issue of Provotorov combining both posts at a meeting on Thursday.
NTK's current chief, Sergei Kalugin, is quitting the company, reports have said.
Rostelecom consolidated 100% of NTK a month ago.
NTK includes several major cable TV and broadband providers. The company has a presence in Moscow, Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Kurgan.
NTK revenue in 2011 climbed 14%, according to preliminary figures, to 10.8 billion rubles and OIBDA jumped 27% to 4.4 billion rubles. NTK had net debt at the end of 2011 of 2.3 billion rubles down from 2.8 billion the previous year.
The NTK subscriber base exceeded 5.1 million at the end of 2011, including 195,000 digital pay TV (up 59%) and 530,000 broadband (up 39%) customers. NTK almost doubled its broadband customer numbers in Moscow in 2011 to 292,000 households. Digital TV subscribers increased by over 83%.